The Yea Team
The rah—rah boys of TV sports live by a simple motto: Don't knock the jocks Damien Cox
Pat Marsden was obviously perturbed by my line of questioning as we sat in his office at CFTOTV in Toronto. His face was beet red, sharply contrasting with his white shirt and natty blue suit-the same face that has been closely associated with television sports in Canada for 28 years. I had just asked if […]
The Electric Circus
Tune into Moses Znaimer's boffo local news show and get wired on the events of the day
A mid-November Thursday after, noon in the reception area of Citytv’s trendy downtown Toronto studios, ensconced in a funky old black-painted building that once housed a chocolate factory and, later, the Electric Circus discotheque. Two young receptionists sit behind the desk snapping bubble gum as they watch Billy Idol flash his flesh on Toronto Rocks, […]
Shots in the Dark
In its coverage of the KAL tragedy, the Toronto press was blinkered by Washington
On September 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines flight 007 trespassed into Soviet airspace and was blasted out of the sky. Two hundred and sixty-nine people died. On September 2, the western press, reflecting international outrage, condemned the Soviets as murderers and barbarians. The Toronto press was no exception. In the weeks following the incident, cold […]
The Patience of Shirley Sharzer
She has experience, talent and respect -- what she doesn't have is the top job
Of the many talented women who hold responsible jobs on major daily newspapers in Canada, surprisingly few have managed to reach the upper editorial echelons. Dona Harvey has been editor of the Winnipeg Tribune and managing editor of the Vancouver Province, Lise Bissonnette is the editor of Le Devoir in Montreal, Barbara Amiel is the […]
The Audible Minorities
The ethnic press is coming through loud and clear -- but the voices are changing
The twenty-fifth anniversary convention of the Canadian Ethnic Press Federation in Ottawa last November ended amidst a heated argument between the editor of a German-language paper from Vancouver and the editor of a Yugoslavian paper from Toronto. Though the raised voices had strong European accents, the nature of the argument was unmistakably Canadian-a squabble between […]
Blatchford Behind the Byline
When it comes to the real Christie Blatchford, reading is not believing
Christie Blatchford is used to being candid in print. Eleven years after her column first appeared in a campus paper known for its raw look at student life, she is writing for Toronto’s irreverent newspaper, the Sun, enticing readers four times a week with a peek at her personal experiences. But just how often Sun […]
Out of Commission
Why the Kent recommendations have been trashed. An insider's report
We can add the Davey Committee and the Kent Commission to the “boneyards of broken dreams,” the description the Davey report gave to most Canadian newsrooms. It is true that had it not been for the two inquiries, the first on the mass media in general, the second on the daily newspaper industry in particular, […]
The Latest Flash
In the razzle-dazzle of videotext, news is the message we pause for
In a small room midway down a hallway at the University of Western Ontario sits a solitary journalist monitoring Canadian Press wires and writing and rewriting agricultural news. Judith Pratt is compiling Westex, Canada’s first news service adapted for the twoway electronic medium, videotex. Some of Western’s journalism students spend time in this second-floor newsroom […]
Shooting Wars
Covering combat, says TV newsman Bill Cunningham, is not a conspicuous act of bravdo
When CBC’s Vietnam war correspondent Bill Cunningham left the plush surroundings of Phnom-Penh’s Royal Hotel in April, 1970, he knew he was taking a calculated risk. With his cameraman and an American reporter, he was setting out to document the presence of North Vietnamese troops in Cambodia. “The day was hot, dusty and sleepy. We […]
The Creative Agonies of Ed Franklin
Despite 16 years of accomplishments, he feels too contained, too controlled by The Globe and Mail: "Sometimes, they edit the vitality right out of a cartoon"
He had built him out of spaghetti. The great opera singer, Luciano Pavarottiwas nothing but a mass of noodles, long and stringy, oozing out of a classic black tuxedo. The cartoonist looked at his creation and almost smiled. He leaned back for a moment and glanced out the window of his studio in Clarence Square. […]
